David,
You're missing the point.
While I understand the normal definition of a GM intermediate is the A
body. I wanted to challenge the "norm" and I think I did that pretty well
if you really read exactly what was written.
I really read it. There is no "norm."
You did make a major mistake, and you are not alone when you stated -
" ??? As an example, a '59 Olds Dynamic 88, a Super 88, and a 98 are the
same, > just different styling and accessories, with the same 394 engine."
Sorry, I'll bet you anything that '59 88s and 98s are IDENTICAL. That's what
I cut my teeth on! I know them like the back of my hand.
Exactly how the 88 with there 123" w/b B bodies and the 126.3" w/b C
modies are the same baffles me. ??? Have you ever paid attention to the
differences, had to spend a considerable time in the back seat or deal
with a child seat in the rear? That extra 3+" makes a big difference as
well as the extra ride and quietness issues.
JEEEEEZZZZZ! "B" and "C" bodies did not start until 1965, and ***both***
bodies are considered to be ***FULL-SIZE*** cars, period. The A-body is the
one and only GM '64-'72 intermediate.
My point is this - There are significant differences between the 88 and 98
models. In your response, you have grouped them together, but trust me, a
B body 88 is not the same chassis as the C body 98. So by these size
differences you cannot have too "different", "fullsize" cars, Whish is the
full size car?
Actually, that's exactly what GM did. There ***were*** 2 different full-size
cars. That's exactly the way GM did it.
The SMALLER 88, or the LARGER 98? If you take the fact that the largest
car that Oldsmobile made as the true full size, then that would by all
accepted terms and meanings in the universe that the 88 would be the true
intermediates, and that by all true and accepted car definitions in the
universe means that A bodies are really NOT intermediates.
At this point, you would have the old-time GM execs rolling in the floor
with laughter. Nope, I regete to tell you there is only one '64-'72 GM
intermediate, the A-bodies. Argue with GM.
To me, and justified by the size, marketing and performance differences, a
Oldsmobile Delta 88 is not the same car as a Oldsmobile 98!
Right, a 5100 pound 2-door '67 Delta 88 is of no significance.
My post was made to make people ponder the thinking that sometimes what we
accept as normal and standard according to all the known and unknowns in
the universe might just not be that. it is something that is not a known
law of the universe, but what someone might have just assumed / started
many years ago and is not really correct when you look at the facts.
We didn't accept anyone's thinking. It's carved in stone by GM and each of
its divisions, Buick, Chevy, Olds, and Pontiac. Cad is left out, since they
never wanted anything that was an intermediate in '64-'72.
It is also possible that grouping the B/C bodies together (forgetting that
they are in truth two different size cars) and making the A body known as
the accepted intermediate size (rather than the true intermediate size B
body) was done by the Chevrolet division as they only had the smaller B
body (Impale, Caprice, Etc) rather than the true full size C body car
(Oldsmobile 98) and this way Chevrolet did not feel left out or in second
place to Oldsmobile.
Again, no, that was the way GM corporate did it. The anology would be like
the wheel base differences between an A-body intermediate standard car in
'64-'65 to an A-body station wagon. Wheelbase for the standard car was 115"
(2-door and 4-door) and the wheelbase for the station wagon was 119.5". Do
you want a XYZ-body designation for A-body station wagon? No, that is not
the way it was done. The slight 3" variation between "B"s and "C"s is design
influenced and ***not*** marketing influenced.
"B"s and "C"s are fullsize, "A"s are intermediates, and compacts (Chevy IIs
and Olds Omegas) and ponys (Camaros and Firebirds) are something else.
And I still stand by what I said that possibly Oldsmobile started the
whole factory muscle car thing when in the EARLY 50's they took the larger
engine from the larger 98 and installed it in the smaller and lighter 88.
I won't agree to that, partially because the basic foundation is wrong.
Just a different way of lookiing at things. A way I NEVER thought of until
I realized the true differences between the A, B, and C bodies
Unfortunately, your perceived differences are a bit tilted since there are
massive differences between a GM intermediate A-body and any GM fullsize
B-body or C-body, while the differences between a GM fullsize B-body and
full-size C-body are very much less, as intended by GM designers.
I would also say the differences between an A-body standard car and an
A-body station wagon could equal the differences between a fullsize B-body
and a full-size C-body, while the differences between all A-bodies and all
B-C-bodies are several orders of magnitude in size and conception.
Milton Schick
1964 442 Cutlass
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
